Learning Outdoors: A Digital-Natural Blend

Picture of Calum

Calum

International Primary Teacher and Outdoor Learning Specialist, with over ten years experience. I hold an MSc in Outdoor Education and PGDE in Primary Education.


I often get asked about my approach to learning outdoors.

While I’m advocate for hands-on discovery with natural materials, I’ve also enjoyed combining edtech—specifically, the iPad.

I find it a useful tool for bridging the gap between the outdoors and the classroom, creating an engaging experience for learners.

Here’s how I use iPads to enhance my outdoor lessons:

Documenting and Reflecting: Using apps like Book Creator, learners can record their observations in the moment. They can take photos, record audio notes, and add text to document what they find, see, and learn. This is especially helpful for EAL learners, who can use voice recordings to build confidence and make sense of their new environment.

EAl (English as second language learner documenting the features of the playground. Using the voice record button to say what they see in English and their home language


Creative Projects: Apps like Stop Motion Studio allow children to be creative. We’ve used it to create stop-motion animations with plastercine characters and natural stettings with natural materials like leaves and stones. It’s a fun way to bring lessons to life and explore storytelling.

KS2 student using the stopmotion animator to create a story about a cattepiller


Connecting Concepts: We’ve also used Book Creator to annotate images. For instance, learners can photograph a playground and use the app to label 2D and 3D shapes or angles they find, connecting abstract concepts to their physical surroundings.

Finding annotations and labelling real examples of 2D shapes in the playground

If you would like to find out more about how your children can integrate Ed-tech with outdoor learning, why not book a 1:1 Consultation! Check out the details on my home page!